There has been a significant decline in the cost of dependency-forming medicines prescribed in England, according to quarterly data from the NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA).
Between April and June 2025/26 there were 16.5 million items for dependency-forming medicines prescribed to an estimated 4.37 million identified patients. The total cost of dependency-forming medicines prescribed was £83.7 million, which represents a 57% decrease since 2015/16.
According to NHSBSA, this can be attributed to an 84% decline in the total cost of gabapentoid prescribing and a 39% decrease in the total cost of opioid drugs, since the same period in 2015/16.
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Dependency-forming medicines are those associated with dependence or withdrawal including opioids, benzodiazepines, gabapentinoids, Z-drugs and antidepressants.
The data showed that opioids were the most prescribed dependency-forming medicines with 9.67 million items prescribed at a cost of £64.5 million.
Prescribing of dependency-forming medicines was most common in females aged 60 to 64 with over 290,000 patients identified from this group.
Cheshire and Merseyside Integrated Care Board (ICB) spent the most on dependency-forming medicines between April and June with a total cost just over £5m, and they were closely followed by Greater Manchester ICB which spent £4.96m.
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Guidance on safe prescribing and withdrawal management for adults can be found on the NICE website.
This trend reflects NHSBSA figures from March which found that, while there had been little change in the numbers of items prescribed, costs of the drugs fell by £2m in October to December 2024.
Earlier this month, The Pharmacist reported that drug misuse deaths were down in Scotland but remained ‘much more common’ than they were two decades ago.
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The most common drugs implicated were opiates and opioids, present in 80% of deaths, followed by benzodiazepines (56%) and cocaine (47%).
Cocaine fatalities were also at a record high with 479 deaths recorded for the second consecutive year.
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